


Make Me Proud, Son

by JetGirl1832, tomatopudding



Series: The Hamilton Family Album [37]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Family Drama, Family Feels, Gen, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Philip Lives, University, non-explicit gun violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-15 14:36:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5789095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetGirl1832/pseuds/JetGirl1832, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This just in Columbia University in New York City has gone on lock down after shots were fired on campus-"</p><p>Those twenty words were enough to change the Hamilton's lives as they're told of a horrible incident that was unfolding on Columbia's campus.</p><p>The Modern AU of Philip's Duel that no one asked for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Make Me Proud, Son

**Author's Note:**

> This is a part of the same universe as "My Dear Eliza" by JetGirl1832

2010

"This just in Columbia University in New York City has gone on lock down after shots were fired on campus-"  
  
Angie set down her book, her chest tightened as she thought about Philip, he was at Columbia... Angie grabbed her phone.

  


  
She waited for a response. Usually, Philip answered pretty quickly unless he was in class, but nothing came back.

  
  
  
"Mom!" Angie called, "Dad!"  
  
"Just a minute, Angie," her mother called back. There was no response from her father, he must be really hard at work.

  
  
  
Angie felt an overwhelming feeling of dread wash over her as she stared at the texts that didn't even show that he'd read them.  
  
"Mom!" Angie's voice quivered as she called out this time.

"One moment, Angie," Eliza responded again.  
  
Angie dialed Philip's number. It rang and rang, but Philip didn't answer. She tried again. And again. And one more time for good measure.  
  
"Dad!" Angie tried, her voice catching in the middle of the word.  
  
"Working," he called back.  
  
"Will one of you come here!" Angie cried out frantically. She felt like she couldn't breathe.  
  
Her whole world seemed like it was spinning she could hear shuffling and soon her mother was there beside her.  
  
"Angie what's wrong?" Eliza took her hand.  
  
"Philip," Angie sputtered unable to say much else other than to gesture towards the news broadcast.  
  
"What about him, sweetheart?" Eliza asked soothingly.  
  
"He's not answering me and his school is on the news and there was a shooter and I don't know what's going on!" Angie let out in a rush.  
  
"What?" Eliza turned to look at the news that was being continually updated with more information as it became available.

The reporter kept repeating the same thing. Lock down situation. Shots fired. No deaths reported. Injuries unknown.  
  
"I'm sure everything's fine," Eliza soothed, drawing Angie close and stroking her hair.  
  
Angie had always been extremely emotional, especially when it came to Philip. The two of them were practically like twins with the way they were connected. The ring of the landline sounded through their home.  
  
"Grab that for me, Alex."  
  
"Eliza, I'm busy," Alex responded.  
  
"Alexander, get the phone," sighed Eliza.  
  
He complied and the ringing stopped. The conversation was hushed and oddly taciturn for Alex past the initial hello.  
  
Alex came into the living room.  
  
"Liza, can I talk to you for a second?"  
  
Eliza was wary to leave Angie by herself. The girl was still sending texts to Philip, her fingers shaking.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Alex glanced at Angie and hesitated.  
  
"I..." Alex didn't even know where to begin since he was having trouble processing the information he had just heard.

"Alex, what is it?" Eliza asked again, beginning to get worried.  
  
"Philip," Alex started, then swallowed dryly, "That shooter," he nodded his head towards the television, "Philip's in the hospital."  
  
Eliza squeezed Angie tightly against her, her eyes burning, "Is he...?"  
  
"In surgery," Alex replied shortly, "They wouldn't tell me anything more."

"Oh god," Eliza replied in a hushed tone, "oh god."  
  
Alex then went to sit beside his wife and daughter and for a moment there was nothing but silence other than Angie's sobs.

"We need to go to him," Alex said suddenly, "I'll call up Martha and see if the kids can stay with them for a few days."  
  
"I'm coming with you," Angie said resolutely, looking up at her father with red eyes.  
  
Alex carefully wiped a tear from her cheek, "Of course."  
  
Alex hugged his daughter, "I've gotta make some calls and we're just going to have to take this one step at a time alright?"  
  
Angie nodded, “Okay.”

"Do you think you can help me pack up some things for your brothers and sister?" Eliza asked softly.  
  
Angie nodded slightly.  
  
Angie sighed and tried to pull herself together and went to get her siblings, "AJ!" she called out as she went to get her younger brother.  
  
"How could this happen?" Eliza muttered as Angie slipped out of the room.  
  
"Come here," Alex said softly, pulling Eliza into a hug.  
  
Eliza wrapped her arms around Alex's waist and rested her forehead on his shoulder, letting out a shuddering sigh. They stayed there for a long moment.

Within a half hour Angie had her siblings all packed up to go to stay with the Washington's. She came in with Lizzie in her arms holding her little sister close.  
  
"What's going on?" James asked as he shifted his backpack on his shoulders.

"You're going to stay with Grandpa George for a few days," Eliza explained, "Your father and I need to go to see your older brother."  
  
"Why?"

"Philip was in an accident," Eliza replied, "he'll be okay but we are going to go see him." She hesitated.  
  
The thirteen year old furrowed his brow as if he didn't really believe her.  
  
"We'll be back soon enough," Alex added.

James sighed but didn't say anything else in response to his father.

A horn honked outside.  
  
"That'll be our ride," Alex mutters, checking to make sure he has everything they might need.  
  
Martha had, of course, agreed to the kids staying with them in the White House for a few days and George had said he would send a car over to collect them.

"Now behave for Grandpa George," Alex speaks very seriously.  
  
"Will you be back for Thanksgiving?" John asked.  
  
Alex sighed, "I hope so."

He herded the kids out to the car and gave James and John each a tight hug before ushering them into the back seat. William took a little more cajoling, but he eventually joined them with Lizzie staying close to his side.  
  
AJ gave his father a look, "What's really going on, Pops?"  
  
"I'll tell you when we figure it out," promised Alex, "Please get in, buddy."  
  
AJ eyed him for a moment before sliding in with his siblings.  
  
"I'm coming with you," Angie said insistently.  
  
"Angie," Alex began, but Eliza broke in.  
  
"Alexander, let her come."  
  
Alex sighed but nodded, "Fine. Now both of you get in. The sooner we get the others to Grandpa George the sooner we can get to the airport."

Angie nodded and got into the car, there was a feeling of tension hanging over them as they made the drive to the White House.  
  
Upon their arrival they were greeted by Martha.  
  
"I can't thank you enough," Alex sighed.  
  
"Just make sure Philip comes back safe," Martha placed her hands on his shoulders.  
  
"I will," Alex nodded.

After bestowing one last motherly smile on Alex, Martha joined the kids that were clamoring their way into the White House.

George walked forward, "Alexander, I hope that everything turns out okay."  
  
"Thank you sir," Alex gave a curt nod.  
  
"Grandpa George!" William ran towards the president.  
  
"Go on," George nodded, "we've got it from here."

Eliza and Angie had remained in the car and Alex returned to it now. He didn't need to tell the driver where they were going, she already knew and pulled out almost before Alex has his belt buckled.

There were some perks to being the Secretary of Treasury, one such being that they didn't have to deal with the horrible airport security before getting on the plane. Alex only wished that this wasn't such a circumstance for using those perks.

Alexander sat in the window seat and Eliza sat beside him, Angie lay her head on her mother’s shoulder.

“We’ll be there soon,” Eliza whispered gently running a hand through Angie’s hair.

Just like her mother said the flight seemed to be over before it even started and soon the three of them were in a car on the way to the Columbia University Medical Center.

Her father made his way to the desk to speak with the nurse, “Excuse me but my son is a patient here, the last I heard he was in surgery-”

“What’s his name?” The nurse asked as she typed away on the computer.

“Philip Hamilton,” Alex replied, he was gripping the counter so tightly that his knuckles were white, “and I would really to get some information seeing as we just flew her from DC.”  
  
The nurse nodded, her focus still on the computer. Alex's foot began to tap impatiently.  
  
"It looks like he's still in the OR, sir," the nurse informed him, "But if you have a seat I'll let you know when he's in recovery."  
  
"Do you know what happened?" Alex pressed, "Where did the bullet hit him? Is my son going to be alright?"  
  
"Sir, please have a seat and I'll let the doctor know that you're here so he can send someone with an update," the nurse told him.  
  
"I am the Treasury Secretary," Alex said, his voice low and wavering the way it did when he was truly scared, "and that is my son on that operating table. My son who was supposed to be safe at this university, but got shot." He spat the last word like a curse.  
  
The nurse's eyes widened slightly, "Sir, Mr. Secretary, I honestly don't know any details, I'm very sorry. If you'd like, I can take you to a private waiting room, but I'm afraid that you'll have to wait for the doctor to update you on the situation."  
  
Eliza stepped in to try to keep Alex from getting even more worked up, "A private waiting room would be lovely. If you could ask the doctor to give us an update about our son as soon as possible, we would really appreciate it."  
  
"Of course, Mrs. Hamilton," the nurse replied, still watching Alex warily.  
  
She told them how to find the private waiting room and was on the phone to the surgical wing before they were even out of earshot.

Angie sat in one of the chairs and pulled her knees up to her chest and sighed her long hair into her face. Alex was certain had never seen his daughter look quite so miserable before and it hurt to see her this way. Her body language simply screamed exhaustion, so much so that he couldn't even see the fear that had wracked her only a few short hours previously.    
  
"Why Philip?" Angie muttered.  
  
"I don't know," Alex replied.  
  
"Great," said Angie, "that's comforting."  
  
"Angelica," Eliza scolded lightly, "Don't sass your father."  
  
Angie simply shrugged and held her legs closer, resting her forehead on her knees.  
  
"She's right," Alex replied, he couldn't fathom why anyone would shoot his son. It didn't make sense and he started running through everything that could have led to this situation.  
  
"Alex..." Eliza took his hand.

Before she could continue further, there was a knock at the waiting room door and it swung open without waiting for an answer. The man who entered was wearing nurse's scrubs and his hair was a mess that suggested it had recently been covered.  
  
"Secretary and Mrs. Hamilton," he greeted, "My name's Ryan, I'm one of the nurses who's been in the OR with your son. Doctor Hosack wanted me to let you know that we've gotten Philip stabilized."  
  
"Is he going to be okay?" Eliza asked, squeezing Alex's hand.  
  
"He will," Ryan assured, "We're just getting the last of the bullet out now. Once everything is over and your son is in recovery Doctor Hosack will come and give you all the details. It shouldn't be too much longer."  
  
"Thank you," Alex said sincerely. He felt like his heart rate was finally returning to normal now that he knew Philip would recover.

"Angie," Eliza spoke up, "how about we go and get something from the cafeteria?"  
  
Angie looked as if she had no intention of leaving her spot but she sighed and got up.  
  
"Alex?"  
  
"I'll wait here," Alex replied.  
  
Eliza, "Please?"

Alex hesitated, then agreed. On there way, they stopped by the nearest nurses station to let them know where Doctor Hosack could find them if he came by before they returned.  
  
There wasn't much of a selection but really the last thing on any of their minds was food other than the fact that it was a necessity. After paying for their food they sat down at a small table, Angie hardly touching anything on the tray in front of her.  
  
"Angie, you need to eat," Eliza coaxed, "You haven't had anything since breakfast."  
  
"I'm fine," Angie said, her voice quiet and low, "Not hungry."  
  
Eliza looked to Alex, raising her eyebrows meaningfully.  
  
"Come now, _mon ange_ ," he said, "A few bites."  
  
"I'm not hungry," Angie repeated.

"Sweetheart not eating is not going to do anyone any good," Eliza spoke up.  
  
Angie took a sip of her glass of water but she didn't do much else.  
  
Eliza sighed, pushing her wasn't going to help much either.

Alex and Eliza and ate their food watching Angie who still refused to touch anything in front of her. When they were done they made their way back upstairs to the waiting room. Angie dragged herself back to the same chair she'd been sitting earlier.

Alex sighed and sat in the chair beside her, resting his elbows on his thighs and burying the fingers of both hands into his hair. He let his eyes slip shut when he felt the weight of Eliza's hand resting on the back of his neck. None of them could have said how much time passed before the door of the waiting room opened to admit the doctor.

"Mr and Mrs. Hamilton."  
  
Alex slowly raised his head to look at the doctor who'd just entered, "Yes?"

"I'm Dr. Hosack, I've been treating your son," he introduced himself.  
  
Alex straightened up, "How is he?"

"We've gotten him stabilized. He'll need to stay in the ICU for a short while so we can make sure there's no infection," Dr. Hosack told them, "After that he'll be moved into a private room upstairs."  
  
"Nobody has been able to tell us what happened," said Eliza.  
  
"The bullet passed through his abdomen and lodged in his right arm," the doctor began, "We had to fix a small tear in his large intestine and remove a damaged portion of his liver. The projectile ended up just below his elbow, fracturing his ulna," he offered his forearm and indicated the side that aligned with his pinky, "and lodged in his radius. We've removed all parts of the bullet and a few small bone fragments that came loose."  
  
"He will recover fully?" Alex asked hopefully.  
  
"In time," Dr. Hosack assured, "It'll be a few days before he can eat anything and slightly longer before he can have anything solid. The arm will be in a cast until the broken bones heal and he'll need some physical therapy to regain full motion. As for anything permanent," he continued, "the bullet passed quite close to a nerve. We won't know until after he heals if there was any damage. If there is, it should only affect his pinky and ring finger."  
  
Alex and Eliza let out twin sighs of relief.  
  
"When can I see him?" Angie asked softly.  
  
"I'll go have a nurse figure out which room he'll be in and you can leave any of your things there. In an hour or so, you'll be able to see him in ICU if you'd like. He is still intubated and on IV fluids as well as blood transfusion to replace what he lost."  
  
With that, the doctor shook Alex's hand warmly and left the room.  
  
Alex exhaled and took Eliza's hand as they waited for their nurse to come in with Philip's room number. Alex kept checking his watch as every minute passed, Eliza gently squeezed his hand the fifth time he checked the time. 

Soon the desk nurse came in and gave them an unnecessarily cheery smile, "You'll be going to room 435."  
  
Angie was the first to stand, she seemed a little wobbly when she did do but nothing was going to stop her from seeing her brother.  
  
"We can go and see him now?" Angie asked.

"He'll be brought up from ICU in about half an hour, barring any complications," the nurse said.  
  
Angie frowned and sat back down folding her arms across her chest. 

"Come on, sweetheart, let's go wait for him in the room," Eliza said, grabbing the small suitcase they had filled with some essentials for the three of them.  
  
Angie rose more slowly this time, but obediently followed her parents out to the elevators. The hospital room was actually rather nice. There was no bed, but presumably Philip would be brought in on the bed he already had in the other ward. It was a corner room, so there was quite a bit of space and someone had helpfully made sure that there were two extra chairs beside the small single seater sofa with a terrible fabric pattern. The room had a television mounted on the wall and a small ensuite bathroom. Angie curled up in the single seater sofa, her legs once more pulled up to her chest.

Alex and Eliza sat in the empty chairs, "He'll be here soon sweetie," Eliza rubbed her back soothingly.  
  
Angie sighed and shifted on the couch, "I know," she muttered, "It's just..." she trailed off.

"You're worried," Alex said, "We all are."  
  
Angie just sighed and buried her face in her knees. In a few minutes, her breath evened out, indicating that she had fallen asleep.

Eliza sighed, "At least she's getting some rest."  
  
"At least one of us is," Alex replied.

"Feel free to follow her example," Eliza said with a flicker of a smile.  
  
"I'm too tired to sleep," responded Alex with a brief smile of his own. It wasn't a state that he was unfamiliar with, even if the situation was.

"Do I need to remind you of the time Angelica found you passed out in the library when we were in college?" Eliza couldn't help but smile fondly at the memory, "you should at least try."

"I thought we promised never to speak of that again," Alex said.  
  
"It was fun, all things considered," giggled Eliza.  
  
"I woke up cuddling with Burr," Alex reminded her flatly, "He had his arms around me."  
  
"You'd drooled on his chest," Eliza added.  
  
"I drooled on his shirt," Alex corrected, "There's a difference. Hey," he frowned, "wait a minute, I don't drool in my sleep."  
  
"Sure you don't."

"I don't," Alex replied, "and I would like to see some proof as to otherwise."  
  
"That I can do," Eliza nodded, "now sleep," her tone was firmer this time.

Alex sighed and sank back in the chair, "I'll try but I won't like it."

Alex then closed his eyes and Eliza did the same, they only awoke when Philip was being brought into the room. Angie remained asleep and they decided it was best just to leave her be as she sprawled on the couch her hand dangling off the edge barely brushing the ground.

Philip didn't look as bad as Alex had expected. He was a little paler than usual and his eyes were unfocused, often slipping closed. When they were open, his blinking was sluggish. The most shocking aspect was the breathing tube that peaked out through his lips. While the nurses got his bed situated, Dr. Hosack spoke to Alex and Eliza.  
  
"We've kept him intubated for now," the doctor said, "Just until the morning. He is able to breathe on his own and the bullet didn't go anywhere near his lungs, it's just a precautionary measure," he assured before continuing on, "Like I mentioned before, he's on IV fluids and we're continuing the blood transfusion. Between the gunshot wound and the surgery he lost quite a bit of blood. We also have him on a morphine drip, but we'll try to start tapering that off in the morning. When he wakes up, he will be disoriented, but that is perfectly natural. Don't let him try to take the breathing tube out."  
  
"One of his arms is immobile and the other had needles in it," Alex pointed out.  
  
"When people are distressed, they tend not to notice those kinds of things," Dr. Hosack responded, "When he wakes up, just get yourselves into his line of sight. Talk to him, engage him, do what you can to calm him down."  
  
The medical professionals filed out, leaving Philip and the soft, steady beep of the heart monitor. The respirator that assisted his breathing whooshed in counter point to the monitor.

Eliza brushed a tear from her eye, she was so glad that he was alive and that he was now there with them.

Leaving Angie to sleep, Alex and Eliza pulled their chairs to either side of Philip's bed and settled in to wait.  
  
She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing that Eliza remembered was the increased tempo of the heart monitor and the sound of Philip's whimpering.  
  
"Philip, oh sweetheart it's okay," Eliza soothed, making sure she was in his line of sight, pressing her hand to his forehead, "Everything's okay."  
  
Alex stood from his seat and leaned over Philip as well.  
  
"Hey there, buddy, try to calm down."  
  
Philip didn't seem to want to listen and the sudden appearance of a nurse, a different one than they'd met before, didn't help matters.

It was enough of a commotion that it woke Angie who got up slowly, "Philip?" She made her way over to the hospital bed.

Philip's eyes, which had been flicking back and forth between his parents and the nurse writing notes on her clipboard, found Angie and settled on her. The fingers of his right hand, protruding from the long cast that covered his arm from just above the elbow to his palm, flexed a few times. Angie wrapped her hand around as much of Philip's immobile one as she could, not taking her eyes off of him. Slowly but surely, Philip's breathing calmed and the heart monitor returned to its previous pattern. Philip's eyes fluttered shut again as he once more succumbed to the morphine.

Angie didn't want to let go, it freaked her out to see Philip with all these tubes and wires but he was alive. That was all that mattered now, he was here and he was alive.

Philip awoke again the morning just as Dr. Hosack entered the room followed by a nurse.  
  
"Ah, good morning Philip," the doctor greeted warmly, "and family."  
  
Angie was standing beside the bed at Philip's shoulder, just forward enough so that he could see her from the corner of his eye. Alex and Eliza were standing nearby both holding Styrofoam cups, his with coffee and hers with tea.  
  
"We're going to take the tube out now, Philip," Dr. Hosack said, gesturing to the nurse, "and I know you're still a skittle disoriented, but there's a policeman outside who'd like to get a statement from you, if you're feeling up to it."  
  
Philip nodded slightly. Although he was still on a morphine drip, it was a significantly lower dose than he'd been on directly following the surgery. They'd finished the blood transfusions at some point over night. The nurse gently talked Philip through the removal of the breathing tube and once it was out he coughed several times, wincing as it shifted the site of his surgery.  
  
The nurse spooned him a few ice chips.  
  
"Pops," he rasped once the ice had melted, looking to his father.  
  
"Not going to lie, you scared the hell out of us, son," Alex said, chuckling weakly.  
  
"Scared myself I think," responded Philip. 

"Thank god you're alright," Eliza smiled.  
  
"Why you mind if Officer Thompson came in now?" Dr. Hosack asked, "We can try and keep it short."  
  
"Yeah," Philip agreed, "Can I have some water?"  
  
"Just ice chips for now," Dr. Hosack instructed.  
  
"I'll do it," Angie offered.  
  
"Not too much too quickly," said Dr. Hosack.  
  
Angie nodded seriously, taking the small cup of ice from the nurse. She followed Dr. Hosack out of the room and soon after a uniformed police officer stepped inside.

"Hello I'm Officer Thompson," he introduced himself holding out his hand first to Alex then to Eliza. "I just was to ask Philip a few questions about what happened yesterday."  
  
"He's only just woken up," Alex said.  
  
"It's alright, pops," Philip put in, his voice still slightly raspy, but gaining strength.  
  
"It won't be long," Officer Thompson assured them all, drawing out a small notepad, "Can you tell me what happened yesterday?"  
  
"I was on my way to poetry club," Philip began, "but I ran into my buddy Richie, I mean Richard Price. His dorm is across the hall from mine, we hang out a lot. I don't remember what we were talking about, but I was looking over Richie's shoulder when I saw Eacker coming towards us."  
  
"That would be George Eacker," Officer Thompson put in.  
  
"Yeah," Philip confirmed, accepting a few ice chips from Angie before continuing, "I was going to greet him, we argued a few days ago and I wanted to clear the air a bit."  
  
"What did you two argue about?" Officer Thompson asked.

"About my dad," Philip admitted.  
  
Alex looked at his son with confusion.  
  
"Pops, you should have heard the shit he said about you," Philip looked over at his father.

"Philip," Alex said, his voice cracking slightly. It was his fault. His son had gotten shot and it was his fault.

"I couldn't let him say that," Philip continued, "but I never expected him to get this angry."

"So you two argued," Officer Thompson prompted.  
  
"The day before yesterday," replied Philip, "There was shouting. Some things may have been thrown," he flushed slightly, "We never really got along, we debated constantly, but that was something else entirely. I may have antagonized him a little."  
  
"Philip," Alex said again, shaking his head slightly.  
  
"So anyway, I saw him coming towards us and I wanted to try to talk to him, make friends or something. Then he," Philip took a deep breath and it shuddered slightly, "he took out a gun. Things are a bit of a blur. I remember people screaming and I pushed Richie behind me, I could hear him saying my name over and over."  
  
"Richie was saying your name?"  
  
"Yeah, Eacker didn't say anything. He just stood there. I was going to try to say something to him, but I never got the chance to."  
  
Philip swallowed. "Guns are a lot louder in real life than they sound on tv," he said, suddenly sounding a bit like a lost child.

Eliza gently brushed his hair from his face.  
  
"I'm sorry but that's all I remember," Philip sighed.

"That's alright," Officer Thompson assured him, "We've already spoken to your friend Richie as well as a few other witnesses and all the stories of the event appear to match up."  
  
"What about that Eacker shithead?" Angie snapped.  
  
"Angelica, watch your language," scolded Eliza.  
  
"We have him in custody already," Officer Thompson replied, addressing Angie directly, "He's not denying his involvement in the attack."  
  
"He wasn't involved in the attack, he was the attack," muttered Angie.  
  
"Yes," agreed Officer Thompson.  
  
"We want to take him to court," Alex said immediately, "Why would he even have a gun?" Alex was steadily getting angrier.

Officer Thompson flipped his notebook close and tucked it into his breast pocket, "It appears that Mr. Eacker may have some connections that would allow him to get a gun in his possession. I cannot discuss anything more about the investigation at this time."  
  
"What kind of connections?" Alex asked sharply.  
  
"Mr. Secretary, I cannot say any more about the investigation at this time," Officer Thompson repeated.

"This is ridiculous," Alex shook his head.  
  
"Thank you officer," Eliza intervened speaking on behalf of her family, "we appreciate all the work you and the NYPD are doing for us." There was one thing being the daughter of a prominent senator and being married to Alex had taught her was how diffuse almost any situation.

Officer Thompson touched the brim of his hat in a brief salute and left.

Alex clenched his hand into a fist, Eliza placed her hand on top of his. “Eacker will pay for this,” he muttered.

"Be calm," Eliza said soothingly, "and breathe. Philip is alive and that Eacker boy isn't denying his guilt. Everything will be fine."  
  
Alex simply grunted in assent.  
  
"I need to take a walk," he muttered, wrenching his hand from Eliza's before striding from the room.  
  
Eliza sighed and turned back to her children. Angie was back in the single seater sofa, but she had dragged it so that it was directly at Philip's bedside. Philip looked exhausted, but he and Angie were having a murmured conversation.

"It's fine," Angie reassured him.  
  
"Yeah?" Philip raised his brow.  
  
"Don't worry about me," Angie replied, "you have enough other shit to deal with."

"I always worry about you," Philip shot back, smiling softly.  
  
Angie rolled her eyes, but he corners of her mouth quirks upwards slightly.

"There's that smile," Philip teased causing Angie to smile even more.

Eliza couldn't help but smile as well, she was very glad Angie had insisted on coming along and she was certain Philip was as well.

It was nearly two hours later when Alex returned, but he seemed calmer, that odd sort of calmness he got when he drank too many cups of coffee in quick sequence. He'd be bouncing off the walls with the caffeine soon enough. Or at least bouncing on his toes whenever he was standing.  
  
Philip had fallen asleep again and Angie was right on the border, her head resting beside his on the pillow.  
  
Eliza met Alex at the door and slipped her hand into his once more. Together they watched their eldest children sleep.

\----------  
  
With each day Philip's condition improved, he even let Angie snap a picture of him on her phone.  
  
"I like it," Angie grinned, "you look so dorky."  
  
Philip rolled his eyes, "Thanks for the compliment, I guess?”

"This is so going on Facebook."  
  
"Alright, I'm going to go pick up the others," Eliza cut in putting on her coat.  
  
"What have you told them about what happened?" Philip asked, one-handedly accepting his laptop from Angie.  
  
It was now nearly a week since Philip's surgery. He was eating solid food comfortably and nearly completely weaned off of the morphine. Richie had come over the previous day to bring Philip's school things. They were on Thanksgiving break at the moment, but the following week the semester would still continue and finals were fast approaching. Luckily, Philip's finals comprised of writing essays and compiling a portfolio of his writings. Angie was not looking forward to going back to DC to finish her own school semester. She had the urge to not let Philip out of her sight. At least after he finished his finals he would be home for winter break.  
  
"Just the bare minimum," Eliza replied, "AJ knows more of the details, but the little ones just know that you were hurt."  
  
"They'll be fascinated by your cast," Alex added with a chuckle. He had taken over the single seater sofa that Angie had claimed so many times and was furiously typing away at his own laptop.  
  
"Plus, I have a cool scar to woo the ladies," laughed Philip.

"As if you needed any help in doing that," Angie muttered.  
  
"What can I say, girls have a thing for freckles," Philip smirked as he opened has laptop awkwardly with one hand and balanced it on his lap, "that's a well known fact."  
  
"Right," Angie scoffed.  
  
Using his left hand Philip clicked open some files and then sighed upon realizing the fact that he only had one hand to type with. His father was busy catching up on his own work so he looked over at his sister who was typing on his phone. She was probably posting that picture she just took.  
  
"Ange?"  
  
"Yeah?" Angie pushed her hair from her face.  
  
"Can you help me out?" Philip gestured to his cast.  
  
Angie wanted to say something witty but held back as she took the laptop from him, "You are lucky I love you."  
  
"I'll be back soon," Eliza buttoned her coat and pulled on her gloves.  
  
"Bye Mom," Philip and Angie called.  
  
"I'll repay you once I get back to DC," Philip replied as Eliza left.  
  
"How?" Angie raised her brow.  
  
"I was thinking we could go to Cha-Cha's and eat churros and drink soda till we get sick?" Philip offered.  
  
"I'm going to pretend I did not just hear that," Alex spoke up causing the two of them to laugh.  
  
"You certainly know a way to this girls heart," Angie smiled, "alright, so what are we writing?”

They were working away steadily, Angie's quick typing allowing her to easily stay caught up with Philip's dictation, when the door opened to admit Eliza. She was carrying Lizzie in her arms and John was holding tightly onto her leg. He wasn't really a big fan of hospitals. William had no such problems and rushed forward.  
  
"Philip!"  
  
"Hey, Will," Philip laughed as his brother stopped short of the bed, looking like he was resisting the urge to jump up on it with him.  
  
Philip carefully placed his left hand on William's head to ruffle his hair, wary of the IV that was still in the back of his head.  
  
"AJ and James will be in soon," Eliza said, "James is getting a small case of cold feet."  
  
"I don't blame him," replied Philip with a small smile.

"Can you please finish this sentence you were in the middle of?" Angie asked, "Please?"  
  
Philip laughed, "Alright," he proceeded to finish the thought he'd been in the middle of before their siblings had come in.  
  
"Being very productive I see," Eliza smiled.  
  
"I have learned more about Shakespearean sonnets than I ever wanted to," Angie replied dryly as she shut the computer, at least for now it was going to be next to impossible for them to get anymore work done.  
  
"Oh it's not that bad," Philip laughed.  
  
"You're an English nerd, you're supposed to like him," Angie scoffed.

"Do you not?" asked Philip incredulously, happily accepting a sleeping Lizzie into his lap, where she snuggled herself against his chest.  
  
"He's so flowery, I wish he'd just write what he meant instead of covering it up with subtext and innuendos," scoffed Angie.  
  
"The subtext and innuendos are the best part!" Philip exclaimed, "I mean, in _Macbeth_ when Lady Macbeth talks about--"  
  
"Don't care!" Angie cut off in a sing song voice, "la la la la la!"  
  
"That's enough you two," Eliza said fondly. 

Angie sighed but stopped and put Philip's computer back in his backpack, "You may have won this time..."  
  
"Only because I speak the truth," Philip smiled, "that man was a genius." 

AJ came through the door, practically dragging James behind him. The younger boy was looking at his feet and didn't look up even when the two of them came to a stop.  
  
"Hey Jay."  
  
James slowly made eye contact with his brother, "Hey."

Philip smiled and made a gesture, urging James to come closer. The boy hesitated for a moment before complying, still ending up out of arms reach.  
  
"What's wrong, Jay?" asked Philip kindly.

James shrugged his shoulders and adjusted his glasses.  
  
"I'm fine," Philip added.  
  
"I know," James muttered.

"Come here," Philip said, "William, let Jay get closer."  
  
When James was right next to the bed, his eyes once again became fixed on his own shoes.

"You can look at me, I'm still Philip," Philip smiled, "nothing's changed, I just have a stupid cast on my arm and even that's not going to be forever."

"When are you coming home?" James asked.  
  
"Soon," promised Philip, "I get to leave this place at some point next week and then it'll only be another week after that until my winter break starts."  
  
"During our last week of school," Angie put in helpfully. The university students all got out for winter break a full week before the regular schools and went back to classes a week after. For her part, should couldn't wait to have a longer winter break.

This managed to get a small smile on James face.  
  
"Alex can you stop working at least for a little bit?" Eliza addressed her husband.

Alex made a small humming noise, "Nearly finished."  
  
Eliza sighed, "I'm sure that George will understand if it takes you an extra day or two."

"Mom that's never going to happen," Angie spoke up.  
  
"I've taught you well," Alex smiled, "A Hamilton never--"  
  
"Misses a deadline," Angie finished.  
  
Alex smiled.  
  
"Philip and I were thinking on making t-shirts with all your rules,” she added.

"But then we realized that they wouldn't all fit on a single shirt," laughed Philip.

"And some of be language might not be suitable for polite company," Angie put in with a giggle.  
  
"You're not supposed to know those versions of my rules," Alex mumbled.

"But those are the best ones!" Angie replied with a giggle.  
  
"And they are not be repeated," Alex intoned seriously.  
  
"Is there something I don't know about?" Eliza raised her brow.

"No," Philip, Angie, and Alex chorused in unison.

"Mommy what about Thanksgiving?" William piped in.  
  
"Oh..." Eliza's eyes went wide. Between everything that had happened she had completely forgotten about Thanksgiving.

"Oh wow, is that today?" Philip asked incredulously, "I am so out of the loop."  
  
"I suppose we could..." Eliza began thoughtfully, trailing off.

"Actually Thanksgiving was two days ago," AJ spoke up.  
  
"We can't exactly have a turkey," Angie shrugged, "can we?"

"Hey, I'm allowed to eat anything I want now," Philip said, "and what I want is turkey," he pushed for a moment, "actually you know what sounds good right now? Cornbread from Boston Market."

"You are ridiculous," Angie laughed, "but that would be one way to get turkey," she shrugged.  
  
"I have always been known as the smart one for a reason." 

"Can we get the cinnamon apples too?" William asked excitedly.  
  
Lizzie, who had awoken several minutes earlier put in her own request for "patos," which of course meant mashed potatoes. Lizzie was a fiend for mashed potatoes.

"Well?" Eliza looked over at Alex, "what do you think?"  
  
"I think it's a great idea," Alex smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> Ages:  
> Philip-19  
> Angie-17  
> AJ-15  
> James-13  
> John- 8  
> William- 5  
> Lizzie- 2


End file.
